Abstract: We use N-body simulations to study the effects of tides on the kinematicalstructure of satellite galaxies orbiting a Milky Way-like potential. Our workis motivated by observations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the Local Group,for which often a distinction is possible between a cold centrally concentratedmetal rich and a hot, extended metal poor population. We find that an importantattenuation of the initial differences in the distribution of the two stellarcomponents occurs for orbits with small pericentric radii r per < 20 kpc.This is mainly due to: i the loss of the gravitational support provided by thedark matter component after tidal stripping takes place, which forces are-configuration of the luminous components, and ii tides preferentiallyaffect the more extended stellar component, leading to a net decrease in itsvelocity dispersion as a response for the mass loss, which thus shrinks thekinematical gap. We apply these ideas to the Sculptor and Carina dwarfspheroidals. Differences in their orbits might help to explain, under theassumption of similar initial configurations, why in the former a clearkinematical separation between metal poor and metal rich stars is apparent,while in Carina this segregation is significantly more subtle.